System for providing a communication interface

ABSTRACT

A system, providing a communication interface, is provided. The system includes an embedded device and a host. The embedded device includes an Ethernet controller that is connected to a communication bus on the host. The host includes device drivers of the Ethernet controller. Therefore, no special host-side software is required to establish the communication between the embedded device and the host.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to computer networks. Morespecifically, it relates to a system for providing a communicationinterface between an embedded device and a host to which the embeddeddevice is attached.

A computer can communicate with various embedded devices, such as add-onPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) cards, and the like. A computerto which an embedded device is attached is hereinafter referred as ahost. A communication interface between an embedded device and a host isprovided by a device driver of the embedded device, which has to beinstalled on the host. In existing techniques, the communicationinterface between the embedded device and the host is a register-based,proprietary PCI bridge interface. Protocols used for controlling suchregister-based, embedded devices are device dependent. All registerinteraction and control protocols required to operate the embeddeddevice must be specified. This may also require documentation explainingthe manipulation of the device registers.

Further, different device drivers are required for different OperatingSystems (OSs). It is possible that a device driver for a particular OSis incompatible with a host with a certain hardware configuration. This,in turn, increases the development cost of such embedded devices.

In light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need for a systemthat provides a communication interface between an embedded device and ahost. The system needs to provide a communication interface that doesnot require special host-side software.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a system for providing a communicationinterface. An object of the present invention is to provide an embeddeddevice that is capable of communicating with a host to which theembedded device is attached.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an embedded devicethat does not require special host-side software to establishcommunication between the embedded device and the host. This reduces thedevelopment cost.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide electricalisolation between the embedded device and the host. The electricalisolation enables the access of the embedded device even when the hostis switched off.

In order to achieve the foregoing objectives, and in accordance with thepurpose of the various embodiments of the present invention as broadlydescribed herein, the present invention provides a system for providinga communication interface. The system includes an embedded device and ahost to which the embedded device is attached. The embedded deviceincludes an Ethernet controller for communicating with the host. Thehost includes device drivers of the Ethernet controller. Therefore, nospecial host-side software is required to establish communicationbetween the embedded device and the host.

The embedded device has a power supply of its own. Therefore, it canoperate even when the host's power supply is switched off. The embeddeddevice also includes an electrical isolation medium that is capable ofelectrically isolating the embedded device from the host.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter bedescribed in conjunction with the appended drawings, provided toillustrate and not to limit the present invention, wherein likedesignations denote like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates various elements of a system for providing acommunication interface, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 illustrates various elements of a system for providing acommunication interface, in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems that provide acommunication interface between an embedded device and a host. In thedescription herein for embodiments of the present invention, numerousspecific details are provided, such as examples of components and/ormethods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of thepresent invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize,however, that an embodiment of the present invention can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details, or with other apparatus,systems, assemblies, methods, components, materials, parts, and/or thelike. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, oroperations are not specifically shown or described in detail, in orderto avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an embedded device that iscapable of communicating with a host to which it is attached. Thisembedded device includes an Ethernet controller that enablescommunication between the embedded device and the host. In accordancewith various embodiments of the present invention, this embedded deviceis an add-on Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) card.

FIG. 1 illustrates various elements of a system 100 for providing acommunication interface, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. System 100 includes an embedded device 102 and a host 104. Inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention, embeddeddevice 102 is attached to host 104. In accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention, host 104 is a network device on a network.Network devices may be, for example, personal computers, servers,mobiles, etc.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,embedded device 102 includes a microprocessor 106. Microprocessor 106includes a first Ethernet controller 108, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Embedded device 102 also includes amemory and various Input/Output (I/O) devices connected tomicroprocessor 106, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention. Therefore, various applications can run onmicroprocessor 106. Host 104 includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU),in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Host104 also includes a memory and various I/O devices associated with theCPU, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.Therefore, various applications can run on the CPU in host 104.

Embedded device 102 includes a second Ethernet controller 110 forproviding communication between embedded device 102 and host 104, inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention. Embeddeddevice 102 includes a first Physical layer (PHY) 112 to provide aphysical interface between microprocessor 106 and second Ethernetcontroller 110, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention. First PHY 112 is connected to first Ethernet controller 108through a physical transmission medium. First PHY 112 is also connectedto a second PHY 114, which is included in second Ethernet controller110, through a physical transmission medium. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, the physical transmission mediumis a trace. In this way, the connection between microprocessor 106 andsecond Ethernet controller 110 is established. Further, embedded device102 also includes a local device driver to provide a communicationinterface between second Ethernet controller 110 and a local OS runningon microprocessor 106.

Second Ethernet controller 110 is connected to a communication bus 116included in host 104, in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention. Examples of communication bus 116 include, but arenot limited to, a PCI bus, a PCI extended (PCI-X) bus, and a PCI Expressbus. Second Ethernet controller 110 interfaces with communication bus116, and communicates with the Ethernet signals of microprocessor 106.Therefore, applications running on microprocessor 106 can communicatewith applications running on host 104. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, these applications communicatewith each other by using various Internet protocols, such asTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), User DatagramProtocol/IP (UDP/IP), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and NetworkFile System (NFS) protocol.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,embedded device 102 includes a power supply module, which provides apower supply to embedded device 102. Therefore, embedded device 102 canoperate even when the power supply of host 104 is switched off. However,to prevent damage to improperly biased interface devices, embeddeddevice 102 and host 104 need to be electrically isolated from eachother. To achieve this electrical isolation, embedded device 102includes an electrical isolation medium, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, the electrical isolation mediumincludes an isolation transformer. The isolation transformer is atransformer device that couples the Ethernet signals of host 104 withthe Ethernet signals of microprocessor 106.

Further, embedded device 102 can also include a storage medium forstoring data, in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, embeddeddevice 102 can include an Ethernet connector, which provides aconnection to an Ethernet network. Therefore, embedded device 102 canact as a network device on the Ethernet network, and can be accessedfrom remote locations.

Furthermore, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention,embedded device 102 can provide information about the availability ofhost 104, when accessed from a remote location on the Ethernet network.For this purpose, embedded device 102 includes an instrumentationprocessor, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.This instrumentation processor collects information about theavailability of host 104, and transmits this information tomicroprocessor 106. In accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention, the instrumentation processor is a micro-controller.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, host104 includes device drivers to communicate with second Ethernetcontroller 110. Second Ethernet controller 110 provides a communicationinterface between embedded device 102 and host 104. Therefore, host 104communicates directly through second Ethernet controller 110, andtherefore, requires only the device drivers of second Ethernetcontroller 110. It should be noted that these device drivers are knownin the art and are available for existing Operating Systems (OSs).Further, even in the case of an OS, various versions of device driversare known in the art, which are compatible with various hostarchitectures. Therefore, no special host-side software is required toestablish the communication between embedded device 102 and host 104. Inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention, embeddeddevice 102 is compatible with the existing OSs and the existing hostarchitectures.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, firstEthernet controller 108 may be a part of embedded device 102, withoutbeing included in microprocessor 106. In accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention, second PHY 114 may be a part ofembedded device 102, without being included in second Ethernetcontroller 110. Therefore, embedded device 102 can includemicroprocessor 106, first ethernet controller 108, second ethernetcontroller 110, first PHY 112 and second PHY 114, as illustrated in FIG.2.

FIG. 2 illustrates various elements of a system 200 for providing acommunication interface, in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention. System 200 includes an embedded device 202 and a host204. Embedded device 202 includes a microprocessor 206, a first Ethernetcontroller 208, a second Ethernet controller 210, a first PHY 212 and asecond PHY 214. Further, second Ethernet controller 210 is connected toa communication bus 216 included in host 204. Various functions of andconnections between the various elements of system 200 are the same asthat of system 106 explained above in conjunction with FIG. 1.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, host104 communicates with embedded device 102 through second Ethernetcontroller 110. Therefore, there is no need for any special host-sidesoftware. The only requirement is that host 104 should be configured tocommunicate with second Ethernet controller 110. No other specialhost-side configuration is required. If host 104 is configured tocommunicate through second Ethernet controller 110, the communicationbetween embedded device 102 and host 104 is established. This makesembedded device 102 compatible with the existing OSs and the existinghost architectures.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide an Ethernet-basedcommunication interface between embedded device 102 and host 104.Therefore, applications running on embedded device 102 can communicatewith applications running on host 104, using various Internet protocols,such as TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTTP, and NFS protocol.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention,embedded device 102 includes a power supply of its own. Therefore, itcan operate even when the power supply of host 104 is switched off.Various embodiments of the present invention provide an electricalisolation between embedded device 102 and host 104. This protectsembedded device 102 from any possible damage.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a physicalconnection between embedded device 102 and an Ethernet network throughEthernet connectors. Therefore, embedded device 102 can be accessed fromremote locations.

The system, as described in the present invention or any of itscomponents, may be embodied in the form of a computer system. Typicalexamples of a computer system include a general-purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integratedcircuit element, and other devices or arrangements of devices that arecapable of implementing the acts constituting the method of the presentinvention.

The computer system comprises a computer, an input device, a displayunit, the Internet, and a microprocessor. The microprocessor isconnected to a communication bus. The computer also comprises a memory,which may include a Random Access Memory (RAM) and a Read Only Memory(ROM). The computer system also comprises a storage device, which can bea hard disk drive or a removable storage drive, such as a floppy diskdrive, an optical disk drive, a flash memory, and so forth. The storagedevice can also be other similar means for loading computer programs orother instructions into the computer system.

The computer system executes a set of instructions that are stored inone or more storage elements, in order to process input data. Thesestorage elements may also hold data or other information, as desired,and may also be in the form of an information source or a physicalmemory element in the processing machine.

The set of instructions may include various commands instructing theprocessing machine to perform specific tasks, such as the actsconstituting the method of the present invention. The set ofinstructions may be in the form of a software program, and the softwaremay be in various forms, such as system software or applicationsoftware. Further, the software may be in the form of a collection ofseparate programs, a program module with a larger program, or a portionof a program module. The software may also include modular programmingin the form of object-oriented programming. The processing of input databy the processing machine may be in response to user commands, toresults of previous processing, or in response to a request made byanother processing machine.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been illustratedand described, it will be clear that the present invention is notlimited only to these embodiments. Numerous modifications, changes,variations, substitutions and equivalents will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent invention, as described in the claims.

1. A system comprising: a. an embedded device, the embedded devicecomprising: i. a microprocessor, the microprocessor comprising a firstEthernet controller; ii. a first Physical layer (PHY), wherein the firstPHY is coupled to the first Ethernet controller through a physicaltransmission medium; and iii. a second Ethernet controller, the secondEthernet controller comprising a second PHY, wherein the second PHY iscoupled to the first PHY through a physical transmission medium; and b.a host, the host comprising a communication bus, wherein thecommunication bus is coupled to the second Ethernet controller.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the communication bus comprises one or moreof a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI extended (PCI-X)bus, and a PCI Express bus.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theembedded device further comprises: a. a memory, the memory being coupledwith the microprocessor; and b. one or more Input/Output (I/O) devices,the one or more I/O devices being coupled with the microprocessor. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the embedded device further comprises anelectrical-isolation medium, the electrical-isolation medium beingcapable of electrically isolating the embedded device from the host. 5.The system of claim 1, wherein the embedded device further comprises apower supply module, the power supply module providing a power supply tothe embedded device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the embeddeddevice further comprises an Ethernet connector, the Ethernet connectorproviding a physical connection between the embedded device and anEthernet network.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the embedded deviceis accessible from a remote host on the Ethernet network.
 8. The systemof claim 1, wherein the microprocessor further comprises one or moreapplications, wherein the one or more applications are used forcommunicating with applications running on the host.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the embedded device further comprises aninstrumentation processor, the instrumentation processor collectinginformation about the host, the instrumentation processor transmittingthe information to the microprocessor.
 10. The system of claim 9,wherein the instrumentation processor comprises a micro-controller. 11.The system of claim 1, wherein the embedded device further comprises astorage medium, the storage medium being capable of storing data.
 12. Anembedded device for communicating with a host, the embedded devicecomprising: a. a microprocessor, the microprocessor comprising a firstEthernet controller; b. a first Physical layer (PHY), wherein the firstPHY is coupled to the first Ethernet controller through a physicaltransmission medium; and c. a second Ethernet controller, the secondEthernet controller comprising a second PHY, wherein the second PHY iscoupled to the first PHY through a physical transmission medium, thesecond Ethernet controller being coupled to a communication buscomprised in the host.
 13. The embedded device of claim 12 furthercomprising: a. a memory, the memory being coupled with themicroprocessor; and b. one or more Input/Output (I/O) devices, the oneor more I/O devices being coupled with the microprocessor.
 14. Theembedded device of claim 12 further comprising an electrical-isolationmedium, the electrical-isolation medium being capable of electricallyisolating the embedded device from the host.
 15. The embedded device ofclaim 12 further comprising a power supply module, the power supplymodule providing a power supply to the embedded device.
 16. The embeddeddevice of claim 12, wherein the microprocessor further comprises one ormore applications, wherein the one or more applications are used forcommunicating with applications running on the host.
 17. The embeddeddevice of claim 12 further comprising an Ethernet connector, theEthernet connector providing a physical connection between the embeddeddevice and an Ethernet network.
 18. The embedded device of claim 17 isaccessible from a remote host on the Ethernet network.
 19. A systemcomprising: a. an embedded device, the embedded device comprising: i. amicroprocessor; ii. a first Ethernet controller, wherein the firstEthernet controller is coupled to the microprocessor; iii. a firstPhysical layer (PHY), wherein the first PHY is coupled to the firstEthernet controller; iv. a second Ethernet controller; and v. a secondPHY, wherein the second PHY is coupled to the second Ethernet controllerand the first PHY; and b. a host, the host comprising a communicationbus, wherein the communication bus is coupled to the second Ethernetcontroller.